Summertime

We’ve had a pretty busy summer. Barrett had two months off after Caleb was born, which was really nice! It was so good to have him home while we adjusted to a new baby. He got pretty bored being home with us all the time, but he was such a good help and didn’t complain. He worked for a guy doing yard work for a few days and that helped him feel a little more useful. He made enough money to pay for our gas and stuff up to Idaho.

My loves!

At some Indian ruins

We went to Idaho for about 3 weeks in June. The kids were great on the drive up and did really well on our whole trip. We had a family reunion at Bear Lake with my mom’s family (Kemptons) and had a great time. There were lots of people that I hadn’t seen in a long time or had never met. We had a fun weekend of visiting, wading in the lake, and lots of laughing! We also had a reunion with Barrett’s immediate family and had a fun time with them. Barrett’s oldest sister Bethany and her husband weren’t able to come because her sister in law was in a bad car accident. We blessed Caleb while we were up there since our families were there. He was blessed June 27 in the Rexburg West Main ward by his daddy. Barrett’s brothers John and Jason were in the circle as well as my dad and brother Greg. It was a good trip and fun to be home in Rexburg and spend time with family. Barrett’s birthday was July 1 so we spent the day with family and left for home the next day.

Hanging out at Bear Lake

My family on Caleb's blessing day

Caleb in his blessing outfit

All of Barrett's family (except Bethany and TJ) after Caleb's blessing

On our way up to Idaho and the way back down we stayed at my grandparents’ house in Orem, UT. They are always so hospitable and kind to let us crash there. They also loved seeing Anna and Caleb and of course those two love their great grandparents. Family is wonderful and it hit me really hard on that trip how truly important it is to be close to family. I haven’t done really well at staying in touch with family members and am trying to be better about it. We are so blessed to have amazing technology to communicate with and I need to take advantage of it more often. It also hit me hard that I have been blessed with a wonderful heritage as I learned more about my mom’s parents and grandparents and spent time with my dad’s parents. I am so blessed and have amazing ancestors!

When we came back from Idaho we had a couple more weeks together as a family before Barrett started his summer internship at The Peaks skilled nursing center in Flagstaff. We didn’t do anything really big, but went on little hikes and things and just enjoyed being together. Barrett started his internship July 12 and did that for 5 weeks. It was a learning experience, but he didn’t really enjoy it. His clinical instructor was not very good to work with and made things difficult for him, but he survived. The schedule there was nice though. He usually had to be there at 7 am but was usually home in the afternoon before 4 so it was nice to spend time with him in the afternoons. He finished his time there and then had 2 weeks off before he started school today. Once again we just enjoyed spending time together and going on walks or hikes. We also went to the Snowflake temple, which was really nice. It was our 4^th anniversary August 25 and our friends came over and watched the kids so we could go out to dinner. It was nice and so good to reflect on our relationship. Barrett is so good to me!

At Lake Mary in Flagstaff

My brother Greg left on his mission July 14 and is going to the Philippines Bacolod mission. He is still in the MTC but leaves in about 2 weeks. He is doing really well and will be a great missionary! We have had the elders assigned to our ward over to eat a couple of times and have had lessons on missionary work so Anna understands what Uncle Greg is doing. She is such a smarty. If we ask her now what missionaries do she says “Dey teach people da gospel!” She loves to point out the missionaries at church.

Just before Caleb was born I got called to be the 1^st counselor in the Primary presidency in my ward. It was a really overwhelming call for me since I haven’t worked with children. I was really nervous about teaching sharing time and stuff and was scared of the kids! But the Lord truly helps those he has called and things are going well. I taught sharing time the whole month of July and really enjoyed it. I have really learned to love the children and am learning a lot from this calling. Barrett has been wonderful to help me with anything and watch the kids when I have meetings etc. I also planned the activity day this month. We played pioneer games at a park and had a fun time.

Anna and Caleb are both growing up so much! Anna’s big thing this summer was getting potty trained. I really lucked out because she picked it up really fast. We did a sticker chart and she filled in up in about 2 weeks and did really great. We are still working on the number 2 a little bit, but we found out that marshmallows are really motivating for her so that has helped. It’s so nice to not have 2 kids in diapers! My favorite comment from Anna: I asked what she had been doing when she was playing in her room and she said “I was dust pooping myself.” Lovely.

Anna loves to hike!

Caleb is growing like a weed! He is almost 4 months old now! He is such a smiley baby and loves to smile at anyone who will give him attention. He also laughs quite a bit and it is really cute. He can roll over from his front to back and can sit up for a few seconds on his own. Caleb is very strong and loves to stand straight up. He has the most beautiful blue eyes and is just a handsome little guy. He is a big momma’s boy though and cries almost nonstop when I leave him with Barrett. Poor guy!

Sorry this is such a long update. I’ll try not to wait so long in the future!